Lufthansa is reported to be planning to place an order for 15 of Airbus Industrie's planned A380 super jumbo aircraft. A proposal will be put to the supervisory board in mid-September.

The announcement ends months of uncertainty over exactly how many of the giant long-haul jets - none of which have yet been built - the German carrier aimed to buy. Chairman Juergen Weber had told Der Spiegel recently that Lufthansa planned to buy some A380s, but did not reveal how many.

Analysts had been expecting five or six at most. "A company like Lufthansa simply cannot allow itself not to order the A380 because its cost per seat is 15 percent to 20 percent lower than for comparable aircraft," Mr Weber had said.

However, Lufthansa did not intend to break off its relations with Boeing...

http://news.airwise.com/stories/2001/09/1000106042.html